Liverpool was dealt a blow in its bid to win the Premier League title over the weekend, losing 3-1 against Arsenal. The league leader put in a well below-par performance and was punished for some sloppy errors, but still remains two points clear at the top of the table, even if Manchester City has a game in hand.
Key players including Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah were missing but that was no excuse. Liverpool simply didn’t turn up and perform at the level required when Mikel Arteta’s side rose to the occasion. Uncharacteristic mistakes from Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker didn’t help the cause either.
While Arsenal celebrated the three points in a manner that showed just how important its players felt the victory was, the Gunners have received some less positive news since. It will not take that much of a shine of an important victory, however.
According to the Daily Mirror, Arsenal faces a fine of around $31k (£25k/€29k). That is because Arteta’s side picked up six bookings from referee Anthony Taylor, which is enough to trigger an FA fine for ill-discipline.
Starters Benjamin White, William Saliba, Gabriel, Declan Rice and Kai Havertz were all booked, while half-time substitute Jakub Kiwior was also given a caution. Only Joe Gomez and Darwin Núñez were booked for Liverpool aside from Ibrahima Konaté, who was given two yellows and was sent off in minute 88.
A lot of things were against us today,” Jürgen Klopp said about the officiating post-match. “This referee gave me a red card against Man City for a wrestling situation between Bernardo Silva and Mo Salah. Today, same situation with [Diogo] Jota but [I] didn’t get a red card.
“It is unbelievable, then the one of holding [Kai] Havertz on Konaté for the first yellow card. Then Havertz goes down and the referee gives Konaté a yellow card. Gabriel [Magalhães] does the same to Núñez and no yellow card.”
Liverpool.com says: The referee was certainly not the reason that Liverpool lost on Sunday and in fairness, Klopp wasn’t suggesting that either. Instead, the performance is what should be looked at. Arsenal simply performed better. Konaté’s second yellow was perhaps one that Taylor could have got away without giving, but it would not have changed the result.
